Guerrilla Stripers Paint Back Bedford Avenue Bike Lane

Looks like some New Yorkers who bike on Bedford Avenue decided not to sit idly by after the city removed 14 blocks of bike lane in South Williamsburg. Multiple sources informed Streetsblog this morning that DIY, unofficial bike lane striping has appeared along the stretch of Bedford Avenue that was sandblasted last week. We don't know who is responsible for this act of civil disobedience and guerrilla safety enhancement, but apparently, their efforts have run afoul of the law.

According to sources cited by Ben Muessig at Gothamist, the bike lane stripers were apprehended by NYPD this morning, with an assist from the neighborhood watch in South Williamsburg's Hasidic community:

According to tipsters, the neighborhood's volunteer community watch
group responded to reports at around 4 am that two men were using
spraypaint to recreate a section of the bike lane, which the Department
of Transportation controversially removed from a 14-block stretch of
Bedford Avenue last week. Police arrived at the corner of Bedford
Avenue and Rutledge Street and arrested two suspects, sources said.

Streetsblog has requests in with NYPD and the 90th Precinct to confirm the arrests. In the meantime, if you have more information or pictures of the unofficial bike lane, send to tips@streetsblog.org.

Ben Fried
is the Editor-in-Chief of Streetsblog. He has been covering the movement for safer streets, effective transit, and livable cities since 2008.

The perfect opportunity to assert our right to all streets, painted with lines and stencils or not. Let’s show them just how many of us there are. Lets show them the power of a community that is mobile, diverse, and transcends parcels of land that can be zoned, sold, or “represented” by elected officials. Oh yeah and its massive fun too!

Meet 7pm at Grand Army Plaza or at Williamsburg Bridge. The latter might be preferable, as the increasingly hostile 78th precinct has been showing up in force at the G.A.P. Bring lights and bells to avoid getting Nyp’d.

Love your BiKeLaYN!

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/shmooth Peter Smith

that deserves an arrest? nice.

nattyb

Hey mellow yellow,

Did u go to nov’s bk grand army plaza CM ride?

Do you know if the 78th was cracking down? I know they were in Oct.

I’m all about doin th w’burg CM this friday.

yehuda

The ‘inside’ line was there this morning, as well as a few (2? 3?) bicycle symbols. Don’t know any more.

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/Jeff Jeff

Mellow Yellow,

I love where your head’s at, but meeting at the Williamrbug Bridge would not facilitate a route which includes the controversial section of Bedford Ave.

I am (and have been) calling for a localized Critical Mass, meeting at Bedford Ave and Flushing Ave.

Meeting at this corner at 8 am would work the best with my commute, though i am flexible.

The latter really isn’t that far from the contested part of Bedford Ave.

sara

can the CM-ers do the rest of us NY cyclists a favor? can you try to obey at least some traffic laws and not make a total nuisance of yourselves, thereby giving all NY cyclists a bad rep? it’s about sharing the road, not owning it. acting like you are above the laws makes you just as bad as the a-hole drivers who make city cycling so difficult. thanks in advance.

henri_cervantes

Riding a bike on a street without a bike lane is not against the law. A bike has the right to take the ENTIRE LANE, regardless of whether it is a bike lane or a car lane. Read the law. Hasids have effectively put the bike riders back into the car lane. Whether that’s safer for everyone is an open question – but it will sure slow down car traffic. Bike riders will use bike lanes if they exist, but to get where one needs to go, will use “any means necessary.”

Peter from Stuy Town

Sara,

I agree with you completely. To all cyclists – remember the approach used by Gandhi & MLK.